Automatically operated valve mechanism



Aug. 18, 1936.

C. J. RUZICKA AUTOMATICALLY OPERATED VALVE MECHANISM Filed Dec. 19, 1933]*a 1/61 for C/arence J Ruz/cka Patented Aug. 18, 1936' UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE Clarence J. Ruzicka, Whittier, Calif" assignor to StandardOil Company of California,

Francisco, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application December 19,1933, Serial No. 703,102

10 Claims. (Cl. 137- 68) This invention relates to a valve mechanism,and more particularly to a valve mechanism of the automatic type havingimproved control means for the regulation of the level of liquidscontained in storage tanks or other receptacles.

It is known that valve mechanisms of the general class in which thepresent device is associated have heretofore been proposed; however, allsuch mechanisms hitherto known, especially ll) of the electricallyoperated type, are undesirable and dangerous when used in connectionwith combustible liquids or fluids. All of these proposed mechanismsthat are in any way analogous to the present device employ one or more15 of the fluids, whose level it is desired to regulate, as anelectrical conductor, and when any one of such fluids is of a volatilenature, the danger of fire or an explosion may be present due tosparking when the operating current is 20 broken at the connection withthe fluid conductor. Further, all these proposed mechanisms require ahigh operating current in the presence of the liquid being regulated andaside from the fire hazard and rapid electrolytic consumption 25 of theelectrodes employed with the fluid conductors, the operation of themechanisms soon becomes undependable.

Also, all of the devices heretofore proposed are undesirable due to thelack of means for 30 changing the level at which the liquid undercontrol is to'be maintained, which is often desirable. In these devicesit is necessary to drain the tank containing the liquid, remove certainparts and substitute others or to change the as location of the deviceentirely.

It is one object of this invention to overcome the above difliculties.

Another object is to provide a novel valve mechanism having improvedautomatic control 40 means.

Another object is to provide a novel valve mechanism having improvedelectrical control means that shall be operable by fluids of smallvariations in electrical conductivity.

45 Another object is to provide a novel electrical valve mechanism forregulating the level of fluids possessing different electricalcharacteristics that will be operable by current variations.

Another object is to provide a valve mecha- 50 nism of the automatictype for controlling the level of fluids of different electricalcharacteristics that shall be operable by a minimum amount of controlcurrent in the presence of the liquid being controlled and therebyrender the device 55,. for use with fluids of a volatile nature.

Another object is to provide a valve mechanism of the electrical typefor use in controlling the level of combustible fluids that shall beoperable by current variations and thereby preclude the necessity ofcompletely breaking the 5 current in the presence or the fluid beingcontrolled.

Another object is to provide a valve mecha-' nism having the abovecharacteristics adapted to be controlled by a fluid whose level is to be10 controlled that shall be responsive to small current variations andadaptable for use with fluids having small variations in electricalcharacteristics.

Another object is to provide a device having the above characteristicsthat may be operable by fluid conductors and that shall be independentof wide variations in electrical resistance of the fluid conductors.

A further object is to provide in combination with a tank or containeradapted to contain one or more fluids whose levels are to be controlled,

a device having the above characteristics that shall beeasily andquickly adjusted for maintaining the liquid levels or the limits of theliquid levels at or between predetermined point 0 points.

The accomplishment of the above and other objects by the novelcombination of circuits and elements will be apparent to those skilledin the art from the following description when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawing wherein reference characters are used toindicate the different parts. It is to be expressly understood that thedrawing is not a definition Y of the invention, but merely one form toillustrate how the princlplesoi the invention may be effectuated.

The drawing is a single view showing a schematic diagram embodying theinvention. 40

- In the form shown, H is a metallic tank or container which may be ofany selected size and for the purpose of this disclosure, it will besutflcient to assume that the tank II is employed to contain two fluidsof different specific gravities, which may be oil and water. The tank His provided with a drain pipe or bleeder line l2, the latter beingconnected with the tank at a point l0 adjacent the tank bottom l3. Thebleeder line l2 has connected therein, in addition to a manuallyoperated valve I4 and strainer IS, an electrically operated valve l6,the latter being operated by an electric coil or motor ll of anyapproved type. Electric current is supplied to the doll "by way of abranch operating circuit I8 from an alternating current supply circuitIS. The circuit I8 is controlled by a coil operated switch 2 I, thelatter being connected in a branch ply circuit H! by way of a selectedtransformer 23. The small transformer 28 reduces the alternating currentto the proper value for application to the rectifier 26. A suitableresistor 29 is connected across the circuit 24 to provide sufficientload to secure proper operation of the rectifier 26.

The neutral side of the control circuit 24 is grounded at 9 to the tankII, when the tank II is of electrical conducting material, or thecircuit 24 may be "connected to an electrodeQa. carried by the lowerportion of the tank wall and extending into the tank for contacting theliquid, when the tank is constructed of non-conducting material. Theother side or positive side of the circuit 24 which is connected throughthe sensitive'relay switch 23 is also connected through a resistor 3| toan electrode 32 suspended within the tank II and at a predeterminedlevel within the tank A second resistor 33 is employed across thecircuit 24 which serves as a discharge resistor for keeping the directcurrent circuit through the relay 23 continually closed but will notpass sufficient current to operate the relay 23. It-might be well tostate here that the amount of ,current required to operate the relay 23is .0008 amperes.

The positive side of the control circuit 24 divides at 34 forming asecond circuit 35. The latter passes through a resistor 36 to a secondelectrode 31 suspended within the tank H and at a predetermined levelwithin the tank, which level is lower or nearer the bottom of the tankthan the level at which the electrode 32 is positioned.

The circuit 35 also divides at 33 forming a third circuit 39. The latterpasses through a resistor 4| to a third electrode 42 suspended with thetank ii, and at a predetermined level within the tank, which level isstill lower or nearer the bottom of the tank than the level at whichtheelectrode 31 is positioned.

The electrodes 32, 31 and 42 together with their respective conductorleads disposed within the tank II are supported'by and arranged within aconduit or pipe 30. The latter may be inserted .from the top of the tankII and supported as shown at 44. It will be understood, of course, thatthe electrodes and their cooperating multiple circuit leads'areelectrically insulated from the conduit 30 and tank II. This enables thelevel at which the fluid is controlled to be easily varied by moving theconduit 30 up or down with respect to the top of the tank II andsupporting means 44 without draining the tank. This is an importantfeature of the present invention and greatly simplifies the adjusting ofthe level at which the liquid is to be maintained. Heretofore, it hasbeen necessary to drain the tank, as well as to require the installationof additiona parts and the repositioning of other parts.

The operation of the device is as follows: Assuming that the tank. H isadaptedto receive a mixture of any two fluids possessing suf-' flcientdifierences in density as to cause them to be separated by gravity andwhich fluids diifer in electrical conductivity, such as oil and water,and

it is desired to control the level of the water under the oil. In theaccompanying drawing 40 indicates the settled water and 4| indicates theoil supported above the water. In actual practice, the water and oilwould most generally be separated by a layer of emulsion. However, for

the purpose of the present invention it will be sufllcient to considerthe emulsion layer as a part of the water and it is included in thedefining of the water level, as such emulsion usually contains water andsuflicient salts to render its electrical characteristics substantiallythe same as water, or at least near enough to satisfy the purpose hererequired. i

It will be understood that the presence of the oil or second fluid isnot required for proper operation oi the device, but when and if asecond fluid is present, the only requirement being that it possessdifferent characteristics in electrical conductivity.

The lowermost electrode 42 terminates at a point lower than the minimumlevel, indicated by the line 43, at which the water is to be maintainedin the tank. By having the electrode 42 positioned below the minimumlevel of the water conductor 40, the latter remains-charged at all timesthrough a complete control circuit from the terminals of the rectifier26, which current, however, is insuillcient, to operate relay 23. Thiscircuit includes the following electrical connections, positive side ofcircuit 24 from rectifier terminal 25 through relay 23 and resistor 3|to branch connection 34, circuit 35, resistor 33 to connection 38,circuit 39 through resistor 4| to electrode 42, water 40 through tank IIto ground I 3 and returned by way of the neutral side of control circuit24 to rectifier 26. When the leve1- 43 01' the water rises sufllcient tocontact the electrode 31, the branch circuit 39 and resistor 4| isshunted out by electrode 31, which increases the amount of currentthrough relay 23, but which current is still insuflicient to operate re-I lay 23. The level 43' of the water may continue to rise until itcontacts electrode 32, at which time the branch circuit 35 and resistor36 is also shunted by 32, and suilicient current may 'pass through thecontrol circuit'24-toc1ose relay 23 for closing the branch circuit 22,the latter energizing relay 2| for closing operating circuit IS, thelatter energizing coil or motor II for opening the valve l6, at whichtime the water is drawn out by way of the pipe l2. As soon as the level430i the water moves below and out of contact with the electrode 32, thecontrol circuit will again depend largely on branch circuit 35, resistor36 and electrode 31. The resistor 36 acts to reduce the current in thecontrol circuit 24, which current while insuflicient to operate the 60relay 23 is sufficient to holdit closed, and thereby eifect a holdingcircuit for retaining the valve l6 open. The water continued to drainout through the pipe |2 until such time that the water level 43 fallsbelow and out of contact with 5 the electrode 31, at which time thecontrol cir-" cuit will depend entirely on branch circuit 39 andresistor 4|, the latter acting, to reduce the control current to anamount insuillcient to hold the relay 23 closed. The relay 23 will nowas-'7 sume its normal open position, de-energizing circuit 22, openingrelay-2|, de-energizing operatfor use in controlling the level 1y fromeither a direct current oralternating cur-.

rent source.

Accordingly there is' provided a novel liquid control device that isautomatic and positive in operation including novel electrical controlmeans wherein the device is operated by varying the current passingthrough the control circuit, which circuit includes to be controlled andthe complete breaking of the control circuit in the presence of the1iq-- uid being controlled is precluded,.thereby eliminating thehazardof fire or explosion and .rendering the present device particularlyadaptable of liquids of a combustible nature.

Also, the importance of the manner in which the position of theelectrode may be easily and readily adjusted to maintain .the liquidlevels at or.between any desired point or.points is thought to be avaluable contribution to this? particular art. I

While the present device has been disclosed in connection with thecontrolling oi'the levels of water and oil, it will now be apparent tothose skilled in the art that the present device may-be readily used foraccurately controlling the level of any fluid for which electricalresistance is not so high asv to render it inoperative. Also. it is tobe expressly understood that the present invention may be employed tocontrol either the outlet or inlet of fluids. Other changes,modifications, substitutions, additions and omissions may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope oi the claims heretoappended.

I claim:

1. In combination with a tank adapted to contain a liquid and providedwith an outlet. an electrically operated valve for controlling saidoutlet, a source 01' electrical energy, an electrical circuit ofgraduated resistance including said liquid in said tank forcontrollingthe operation of said valve, means for maintaining and limiting acontinuously flowing current in said circuit insuflicient to cause saidvalve to be operated and another means dependent upon the level of saidliquid for increasing said continuously flowing current through saidliquid sufllcient to cause said valve to be operated.

2. In combination with a tank adapted to contain a liquid and providedwith an electrically controlled outlet, 01' means for controlling saidoutlet for controlling the level of the liquid in said tank, said meansincluding means for main-' taining a continuously flowing currentthrough the liquid in said tank and adapted to vary the strength of saidcontinuously flowing current sufllciently to operate said outlet whensaid liquid rises to a predetermined level.

.3. In combination with a tank adapted to cortain a liquid and providedwith an automatic controlled outlet, electrical means including a cirtheliquid whose level is valve to be cult and a source of electricalenergy, said circuit including the liquid in said tank and adapted tomaintain a limited current through said liquid, another circuit inmultiple with the first said circuit and dependent upon the level of theliquid for increasing the amount 01' the first said current through saidliquid.

4. In combination with a tank adapted to con tain a liquid, of means forcontrolling the level of said liquid in said tank, said means includingelectrical means for maintaining a limited current through said liquid,and another means in multiple with said last named means for increasingthe strength of said current suflicient to operate the first said meanswhen the level of said liquid rises to a predetermined height withinsaid tank.

5. A container adapted to contain a liquid having means for controllingthe level of said liquid including means for maintaining a limitedelectrical current through said liquid independent of the level of saidliquid, and another means in multiple with said last' named meansdependent upon the level of said liquid for varying the strength of saidcurrent through said liquid.

6. In combination with a tank adapted to contain a liquid electricallyoperated means for controlling the level of said liquid, a source ofelectrical energy, the first said means including means for maintaininga continuously flowing current through said liquid. and means dependentupon the liquid level i'or'varying the amount 01' current through saidliquid, whereby the first said means will operate without completelybreaking said current in the presence of said liquid.

7. In combination with a tank adapted to contain an electricallynon-conducting fluid over-' lying an electrically conducting liquid, anoutlet for saidconducting liquid, a valve for controlling said outlet,aplurality of vertically-spaced electrodes in said tank. and electricalcontrol means for said valve, said means comprising multiple electricalcircuits, each connected to one of said electrodes, whereby the lowestof said electrodes will continuously be in contact with said con--ducting liquid to permit a limited current to flow therein, and thehighest of said electrodes. when sively cumulative resistance, that tothe lowest electrode being the highest resistance.

9. A combination according to claim 7. with the addition of means forsimultaneously adjustably positioning said electrodes in said tank. 7

10. A combination according to claim 7. in

iwhich there are more than two branch electrical I circuits connected.respectively, to a like num-' ber of vertically spaced electrodes, anintermeate electrode circuit being adapted to maintain said limitedcurrent to a value adequate to cause said valve to remain in an openposition after being once opened, but inadequate to cause said actuatedfrom a closed to an open CLARENCE J. RUZICKA.

position.

